The proposed research aims toward a systematic evaluation of cross-cultural comparability in terms of existing measures of well-being and their causal linkages among the American and Japanese aged. In particular, the proposed study has the following objectives: 1.Cross-cultural comparability in measurement specifications of well-being among the aged in the U.S. and Japan are to be evaluated. Specifically, efforts will be made to examine the cultural-general (etic) and culture- specific (emic) components of measures of economic well-being, physical health, social integration, and psychological well-being. Moreover, the relationships between the etic and emic components will be analyzed. 2.Among the Japanese elderly, structural variations of measurement specifications in terms of age and sex will be examined. The results will be contrasted with similar analyses of the American elderly. 3.Structural variations in causal linkages among the culture-general dimension of well-being between American and Japanese elderly will be assessed. The research strategies include a combination of structural equation modeling, survey research, secondary data analysis, and a replication design. Data on American elderly will come from secondary data, as well as primary sources, including four national surveys. Primary data on the Japanese elderly will be collected through a national probability sample of 2,500 individuals 60 years of age or older in Japan.